Trip to Florida

This was by far the most awkward vacation we had taken. Considering everything we've been through since last year this time, we have been talking about taking a vacation. Go somewhere to ease our mind, but with so many things going on it seemed impossible.

On a whim, I booked the ticket to the Hilton Resort and thus the journey began. It was an odd vacation, cuz this time we weren't racing to sightseeing, taking loads of picture for Facebook or anything like that. It was just a relax, swim, eat, drink and play by the beach type vacation. Few things turned out great and few didn't. Like the car rental from Thrifty. Our bodies are still soar from the drive. It was one of the most painful car I have driven so far. The car was dirty, things were left from previous renter in the glovebox, things didn't even work properly in the car.

On the other hand the hotel worked out great. We had an ocean view room on the very top floor. I wish Hotwire had mentioned, there's a $10 resort fee each day. You can use that to your advantage by taking the hour free bike rental, getting free appetizer from the restaurant and few other amenities. The valet parking guys will try to get you to use the valet parking. But I found the self-parking much more convenient, and cheaper as well. They don't give you good direction on how, where to park.

Well lets get started then, shall we?

Friday we picked up the rental car and left home around noon. On the way to Daytona Beach, we took a detour and stopped at the Little Talbot Island. It is $5 per car to enter the State park but since my first time in Florida and we were only an hour and half shy from 8.30pm closing, the ranger let us in at no charge. Worked for us as well since we forgot to get any cash. LTI is amazing. My kind of beach. Not many people and the view is simply spectacular.

From there we headed to Daytona Beach. After getting to the hotel, I see the valet parking right in front but I am not using the valet. I look for the self-parking. Drive around and ask few people but no luck. Seeing how tired wife and kid are, I drop them off to check-in while I look for the self-parking. Driving around I can clearly see the parking lot but no clear way of getting there. Anyway, this is the self-parking spot. And when you check-in you have let the front-desk know you will self-park and they will activate your key to be used and charge it to the room. It is actually cheaper to do so and it is not that hard to find a spot. You can leave and come as many times you like and only pay $12 dollars for 24 hour. You must swipe your key on the second box when entering and exiting, don't worry about getting a ticket or swiping your credit card. Also even if you can't find a spot and just park under the tree or something, as long as you are a hotel guest you won't be ticketed/towed.

Next day we headed out to Ponce Inlet Ligthouse. Another true gem. The beach in the lighthouse park is quiet amazing as well. Had we known, we would have brought our swimming trunk with us and spend the day away on that beach. You can even rent kayaks to go over to some one the small lands on the Halifax River. We went back next day around park closing time and that way we didn't had to pay the fee to get in. Drove right in and it was amazing to see the park.

The Atlantic has some good waves. We can go quite a bit in and still be able to stand up. Do keep in mind in the evening the wave gets stronger and as bigger waves starts to form it will pull you backward as well. On Saturday evening as I am swimming, hitting the waves. After a while I decide to go back since the waves are getting stronger and the pull is getting stronger too. As I am heading back, some kids I saw earlier are screaming. And then one kid point out a kid to me and screams 'save him, save him. He's drowning.' First I thought they are messing around but then looking at the kids face I knew immediately he's terrified and in danger. The problem was, the water was pulling him backward and the land he's trying to stand on is a little deep. He tries to hold on to me, but being small myself I know if he holds me then we both will be in trouble. For a second I am scared myself, wondering the question do I save him or myself? And then with all my energy I push him forward and I start talking to him. As I am swimming/walking, I keep pushing him forward and try to calm him down. Finally he has enough land under his feet to stand up and walk. His mom comes over, thanks me and screams at him without actually realizing where the issue was.

Sunday we spent pretty much all day on the beach. Monday on the way back wife again had us take a detour and check out the St. Augustine Beach and drive through the town. This place has to be a trip of its own.

Daughter on the Bike

Yesterday I got home and after a long day in home Tina is going to the gym. Great. Well, I rode to work and now back again. Need to cover n lock the bike since we live in an apartment. Can't wait to move in to the house....=)

So I go out to move and cover the bike with our daughter. Just covering the bike is not good enough for me. It has to be in a spot where I can see it, check on it from our apartment. Being always worried more about our daughter, I tell her to hop on the bike in front of me. First she resist. She is hesitant. Then she says if I take the key out of the ignition, she will hop on. A three (soon to be four) year old, how do you come up with this kind of stuff??!!

After putting the key in my pocket, finally I get her to hop on. Only one problem. I am not tall enough to reach the handle bar with ease and maneuver. So, I tell her to get down and get up from the back. She actually gets down and up with quiet ease, as if she's done it before. I ask her to hold me real tight. I push the bike over with my feet to where I want to park it. Have her get off and then I cover it and lock it.

What was amazing is her reaction the whole time. She was enjoying every moment of it and after getting of the back she even patted and kissed it too. While I was getting ready to lock it up, she kept wanting to get back on it again and again. First I was reluctant and then I figured why not. If anything it will only encourage her down the line.

And that is true for any other settings as well, my friend. I have noticed, how she's become more and more of a book worm. She loves going to the library, buying(to her) books, and reading. Sometimes she will pretend to read herself and most times she will ask one of us to read them to her. She always loves collecting cars, playing with them to. She plays with cars more than dolls. A lot of these things are influenced by one of us, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Nicest Thing to me.

Came across this particular story on Reddit couple days ago. I still have it open on my browser tab to remind myself who and what we are.

You don't need a lot of money to be happy. You need a big heart and be happy, content with yourself.

Sometime in 2011, one evening, we decided to go to the mall. After a while, our daughter is hungry. The poor girl wants food, and she wants it now.

With our daughter on my arm, I order some chinese and then go up to the register to pay. I hand them my card but it's not working. The card won't go through. I told them I am really sorry, but I don't have any other card on me. I can't take the food. As I proceed to leave, my daughter starts jumping on my arm. She wants food. She's hungry. Seeing that, the Mexican lady on the counter just hands me the tray and tells me not to worry. I keep insisting that's not necessary. But she won't budge.

I come back with the tray on the table. Tell my wife the whole thing. My wife reminds me about my card being expired and the new card in my wallet. I go back to pay for it, but now she won't take the money.

To this day I am greatful for what she did. We will never forget her kindness. And whenever we eat out, we always try our best to pay back the service the cook, server and everyone in between provides us.Whenever we go out to eat, both me and my wife always pile up all the plates, silverware in one place to make the server's life easy. Most of 'em always appreciates the gesture.

Stealing Curry

Last night, I kept waking up on & off. Finally I just got up, walked over to the kitchen, open the fridge and helped myself with my wifes’ amazing beef curry. Beef curry and loaf of breads are my favorite. It was hot, spicy but awesome.

I guess that was the underlying reason for me to not eat a heavy dinner. I kept asking her if the curry was done while having dinner. She was so tired she didn’t get the hint. Finally I gave up. And she thought I didn’t like the ‘Khichuri’ she made. Ooh, can you imagine her hot beef with the khichuri.

Sorta glad, I didn’t have it. For sure I would over indulged with absolutely no regret.

After coming back to bed though, weird how thoughts can enlighten us even in the middle of the night, all of a sudden I had an epiphany. And it was about stealing.

You see, what I did last night can be framed more or less a manner of stealing food while everyone is sleeping. But here at least I don’t have to worry about my hand being chopped off. Even though it may truly suck for the victim, but for the thief it is a mean to survive. The act of stealing is a way for society to balance itself, ensure survival.

Just to be clear, at the moment I can think of three kinds of thief.

1.       Habitual,

2.       Greedy, and

3.       Desperate.

And here I am referring to the desperate kind.  A person who doesn’t have a job, haven’t been able to find one for some time. If such a person gets caught rather than cutting off their hand, we should save his/her dignity and try to help the person anyway we can.

In conclusion, here is something that has been discovered recently.

Fish Fossil Shows Why Humans Have Two Arms, Legs

The Religious Dogma

It amazes me to meet people, to find people who believes it is upto the government to find & prosecute people who blogs against religion. In a democratic society, the government and religion are separate. That means, I as an atheist have the same right to express myself as a religious person does.

It is also sick to see the same people making the injuction, being gay is more of a state of mind and the possibility of finding a cure for it.

Hit the wall

 Yesterday it was a little windy and I geared for the longest so far I’ve ridden on the highway. About 18 miles on I-77. Needless to say, I was a little scared. However half the way, I had to deal with traffic. My palms were sore from holding the clutch.

So, I got there a little before 6pm from work, took me about 35 minutes to get there. Hammy from CharlotteSportBikes.com were there waiting. After a while Shawn S. showed up. After going over bikes and me making it quite clear being a newbie, we took off.  We rode from Cornelius to Harrisburg.

It was chilly. My wrists were hurting, my chest felt cold. But I didn’t mind the pain that much. I was more taken by/fixated on other things.

1.       Shawn S. is an amazing rider. I was in awe seeing his skills. I was at least trying to pay attention to lot of things he was doing. But he truly rides well.

2.       The roads had a lot of twists and turns. It was not a ‘flat track’ (a new term I learned). That meant paying more attention on my part to make sure I don’t lose the bike or something more major.

3.       The country side is amazing and beautiful. In between watching Shawn ride and my own riding, I was trying to take in the natural beauty, the big mansions and all. Since moving into Charlotte, we thought South Charlotte is rich and beautiful. But this country houses/mansion will blow South Charlotte in a heartbeat.

We stopped at the Harrisburg Family House for a grub. First in I asked for a hot tea, cuz I was so cold. I was pretty darn cold throughout the whole time. Both Shawn and his friends had good advice on riding and such.

I learned but haven’t mastered on how to pull the bike at clutch point, cruising the bike and also the importance of gearing down rather than clutching down on stops. Here’s a list of few things I learned and remember:

1.       Finding the clutch point of the bike and being able to cruise on 1^st gear. A great tool when taking off of stop and signal.

2.       The importance of gearing down rather than clutching down on stops. As I’m approaching a stop or turn, to slow down put in some gas, pull the clutch and gear down. The idea is to let the engine slow itself down rather than wearing the break. It also serves another purpose. If I had to veer off the road for possible hazard or continue to go, it would be easier and safer to keep going rather than having to match the gear and take off.

3.       Using the rear brakes less and front brakes more when braking. Simply because front brake has about 80% stopping power than the rear break. Also with front brake you have a pretty good idea how much you are pull the brake and more control than the rear brake.

4.       Learning to enjoy the bike rather than just riding in speed. I can totally relate to that with running. You have to give yourself time & dedication to learn it rather than pacing yourself.

On my way home, I kept playing with these and noticed the difference immediately. For instance, when braking since I would pull the front brakes more; my body wouldn’t shift forward due to the speed.

Today I am beat up. I feel like I am hitting a wall. Possibly since I woke up around 6am yesterday, went for a good pace 1 mile run and then went riding for almost 2 hours. I didn’t get home till 10pm. 

Riding on the Highway

Today for the first time I got on the highway to get to Toys R Us on my bike. Initially I thought of riding on the streets but 9 minutes vs. 17 minutes, kinda hard not to jump on the highway.

It not like I haven’t been going over 60mph, but on the highway you have road hazard and faster car, SUV and trucks. While it was a little overwhelming at first, but especially on my way back I was more relaxed.

Number One, truckers tends to be more cautious and generous to bikers than the average Joes. I suspect part of the reason being, a lot of truckers themselves are riders. During the move every single trucker, loader I met are riders. Thinking about it, sorta makes sense. After driving a big truck for days on, it only makes sense to ride a bike rather than another box. It may also be that, truckers know any accident with a truck and I don’t stand a chance. I very well may not make even a dent on his truck, but I am sure will be dead.

Number Two, thanks to me paying attention on the road. I remember once seeing a biker in IA getting on the highway on his sports bike and tuck behind the windshield, bending over. On my way to Toys R Us, I didn’t tuck down and the wind was hitting me pretty hard and the bike too felt kinda wobbly. If I tried to go over 60mph, it would be feel unstable.

On my back, I tucked more out of curiosity than anything else and amazingly the bike is more stable. Make sense and I didn’t have any issue going up to 70mph. Did miss my exit though and had to do a U-Turn at the signal light.